Free A Prideless Man by Amber Kell Page B

the bile rising in his throat. If his lover ate the humans he didn’t think he’d be able to ever look at the man the same again.
    It wasn’t unusual for a newly changed shifter to lose control. His relief was enormous when James lifted his head and wandered away from the dead humans without further interaction.
    “Is there anything you guys need before we leave? Because I’m not coming back here.” It occurred to Lou he didn’t know what was on the outside. Would they even be able to find anyone to help and how would he explain about a white lion?
    A PRIDELESS MAN
    Amber Kell
    57
    As it was they barely made it outside before a big van pulled up and Andrew jumped out of the back.
    “Oh, thank god you found him. I went to your house and no one was there but I saw the dart on your floor. Melinda never returned to the hotel so I got suspicious. Once I found James missing I guessed she’d bring him here.” As he babbled his eyes took in his son’s new form.
    Talan and Adrian came out of the front seats of the van.
    The lions all looked immediately to the left, tilting their necks in deference to the presence of an alpha. All except James, who trotted up to Talan and butted his head into the alpha’s thigh.
    “I think he wants a pet,” Adrian said with a laugh.
    “You’re kidding me!” Talan stared at the white lion in astonishment. “You are not a housecat. I’m not petting you.”
    James gave a low, mean growl.
    “Fine. I’m scratching.” Talan scratched the white lion behind the ears, under the chin and in the middle of the forehead until the big cat started purring.
    “Have you no dignity?” the alpha scolded, lightly.
    James stood on his back feet and licked Talan’s cheek.
    “Stop that.” The lion shifter shoved James away with a laugh. Unperturbed, the white lion went over to sit by Lou’s feet.
    “Everyone in the van, we’ll straighten everything out later.”
    “I think Dennis’ sister escaped.”
    “What do you mean escaped?” Andrew asked. “People can leave whenever they want.” Cameron laughed. “Unless crazy Melinda sold you.”
    “What?” Andrew paled.
    “It sounds like you weren’t aware of a lot of things,” Lou said not unsympathetically.
    “Yeah.” Andrew nodded. “Apparently there’s a lot I missed while I was concentrating on my research.”
    Adrian patted the man on his back. “Come on. We’ll talk at the pack house.” A PRIDELESS MAN
    Amber Kell
    58

Chapter Six
    James crouched at the end of the bed, watching the large human with confusion. He kept making odd gestures, waving his arms around, pointing fingers and making odd noises that made less and less sense over time.
    Maybe he should’ve gone with the other cats. Unfortunately, he couldn’t leave the big man-bear. He smelt too good, like he belonged to James.
    Giving a big lion sigh, he laid his giant head down on his paws and watched the other man pace. Maybe it was time for another nap.
    Ow.
    He blinked up at the good-smelling man with the bad fur-pulling fingers.
    “Stay awake!”
    What was the point of being awake? The sun was much more enjoyable absorbing while he napped. He wasn’t going to mention that to the fur-puller though. He gave the man a disgruntled look that had no discernible effect.
    The big human-bear man glared back.
    A knock at the door had him growling. He knew the smell of another lion in his territory.
    “Stop that now,” fur-pulling man-bear said.
    Bossy.
    The door opened, revealing a lion and a wolf in human form. He growled at the lion-man, baring his fangs, and went over to smell at the wolf-man. The lion-man growled at him, pushing the wolf behind him.
    James plopped his head back on his paws, swiping his tail back and forth. Maybe lion-man wanted to play since he couldn’t play with the wolf.
    Lou gave a sad sigh.
    Talan laughed. “I think the pretty kitty wants to play.”
    “Just get him to shift back!” Lou shouted. “He’s gone too deep. He doesn’t even know